\n<\/p>\n
Bird Song of the Day<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Stipson Island Rd., Cape May, New Jersey, United States\/<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#freeze\">The Rescinded OMB \u201cfreeze\u201d memo<\/a>: after-action reports and interpretations.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#buyout\">Beware the so-called \u201cbuyout\u201d<\/a> scheme.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#gabbard\">Tulsi Gabbard nomination <\/a> for DNI.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"helper\"\/><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you are in the LA area:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.26953125\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"8.71875\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Free air purifiers in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#LA<\/a> \u2013 retweet please.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ti2lNcypAd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/ti2lNcypAd<\/a> continues to donate HEPA +Active Carbon air cleaners to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LADreamCenter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">@LADreamCenter<\/a> as part of our online “Buy One, We Donate One” emergency relief program throughout January. Last Saturday a large supply of MA-35 units\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NEGN7WvJd5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/NEGN7WvJd5<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ecEkXoijRb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/ecEkXoijRb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tony Colaneri (@TonyColaneri) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TonyColaneri\/status\/1884698335698645423\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of there (\u201cHelpers\u201d in the subject line). In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"trump\"\/>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"80.792505653063\">\n<p>\u201cLitigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/107087\/tracker-legal-challenges-trump-administration-actions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Just Security<\/a>]. \u2022 Rather a lot. Worth a look (though it gives the creeps that the lawfare spooks are tracking the work they themselves inspire).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lawyers are getting louder \u2013 and they\u2019re getting results\u201d [Dan Froomkin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.headsupnews.org\/p\/the-lawyers-are-getting-louder-and\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HeadsUp News<\/a>]. The deck: \u201c9 ways advocacy groups are trying to block Trump.\u201d \u2022 Ah, the \u201cgroups.\u201d Does anybody seriously believe that the NGOs will do the work that the electeds of the Democrat Party cannot rouse themselves to do? Not to mention that whatever reaches today\u2019s Supreme Court is likely to bring about blowback.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"freeze\"\/>\u201cDid Backlash Really Kill the Trump Funding Freeze?\u201d [Ed Kilgore, <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/did-backlash-really-kill-the-trump-funding-freeze.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Magazine<\/a>]. \u201cWhy did Team Trump back off this particular initiative so quickly? It\u2019s easy to say the administration was responding to D.C. district judge Loren AliKhan\u2019s injunction halting the freeze. But then again, the administration (and particularly OMB director nominee <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/trump-cabinet-picks-with-project-2025-ties.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Russell Vought<\/a>) has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/white-house\/trumps-effort-withhold-federal-funding-will-trigger-imminent-legal-act-rcna189583\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">spoiling for a court fight<\/a> over the constitutionality of the Impoundment Control Act that the proposed freeze so obviously violated. Surely something else was wrong with the freeze, aside from the incredible degree of chaos associated with its rollout, requiring multiple clarifications of which agencies and programs it affected (which may have been a feature rather than a bug to the initiative\u2019s government-hating designers). According to the New York Times, the original OMB memo, despite its unprecedented nature and sweeping scope, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/29\/us\/politics\/trump-funding-freeze-rollout.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wasn\u2019t even vetted<\/a> by senior White House officials like alleged policy overlord <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2022\/11\/who-is-behind-citizens-for-sanity-midterm-ads.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stephen Miller<\/a>\u2026. [T]he funding freeze looks like a clear misstep for an administration and a Republican Party that were walking very tall after the 47th president\u2019s first week in office, giving Democrats a rare perceived \u2018win.’\u201d Note my previously expressed strictures on sloppy drafting. But: \u201cIt\u2019s far too early, however, to imagine that the chaos machine humming along at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will fall silent even for a moment\u2026. . Democrats and Trump-skeptical Republicans will need to stay on their toes to keep up with this administration\u2019s schemes and its willingness to shatter norms.\u201d And: \u201cBut it\u2019s true that the electorate that lifted Trump to the White House for the second time almost <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/trump-mandate-break-law.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">surely wasn\u2019t voting<\/a> to sharply cut, if not terminate, the host of popular federal programs that appeared to be under the gun when OMB issued its funding freeze memo.\u201d \u2022 Hence footnote 2: Social Security and Medicare were \u201cpopular Federal programs\u201d among voters of both parties, hence fenced off. Not so Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u2019s First Big Fiasco Triggers Stephen Miller\u2019s Rage\u2014Take Note Dems\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/0RLFq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The New Republic<\/a>]. \u201cWhite House adviser Stephen Miller is frantically searching for scapegoats to blame for the unfolding disaster around President Donald Trump\u2019s massive freeze on federal spending.\u201d That may be so, but the White House also cut its losses immediately. More: \u201cAll of which carries a lesson for Democrats: This is what it looks like when the opposition stirs and uses its power in a unified way to make a lot of what you might call sheer political noise. That can help set the media agenda, throw Trump and his allies on the defensive, and deliver defeats to Trump that deflate his cultish aura of invincibility.\u201d And: \u201d nternal party debates suggest that many Democrats believe that Trump\u2019s 2024 victory shows voters don\u2019t care about the dire threat he poses to democracy and constitutional governance, or that defending them against Trump must be reducible to \u2018kitchen table\u2019 appeals. But the funding freeze fiasco should illustrate that this reading is highly insufficient. An understanding of the moment shaped around the idea that voters are mostly reachable only via economic concerns\u2014however important\u2014fails to provide guidance on how to convey to voters why things like this extraordinary Trumpian power grab actually matter.\u201d \u2022 How in the name of sweet suffering Jeebus is cutting Medicaid <em>not an economic concern<\/em>?! (Also, I\u2019m so, so tired of Democrats psychologizing things, whether in foreign or domestic policy. Miller\u2019s rage, Putin\u2019s fear\u2026. It\u2019s high school stuff. Provoking an enemy\u2019s emotional reaction is the subtext of so many stories. It\u2019s hardly strategic.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Trump White House Wants A Court Challenge Over Frozen Funds\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/donald-trump-omb-funding-freeze-courts_n_679a8d92e4b02e7053bf8d23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HuffPo<\/a>]. \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s federal government funding freeze instituted Monday and apparently rescinded Wednesday appears to be a part of the White House\u2019s official policy to get courts to hand President Donald Trump the power to pick and choose which congressionally authorized funding he will spend, according to a confidential document obtained by HuffPost. The confidential Office of Management and Budget document outlining \u201cregulatory misalignment\u201d calls on Trump to issue executive orders blocking the release of appropriated funds in order to provoke a court challenge over the president\u2019s power to impound such funds\u2026. [The] confusing series of events and conflicting statements and actions [over the OMB memo] may be a fiasco, but the confidential OMB document makes clear that the administration intends on fomenting this very court challenge over the president\u2019s power to not spend congressionally authorized funds.\u201d \u2022 So the lawfare strategy could end up playing the Republicans game, culminating in blowback. How unfortunate there\u2019s no other avenue for redress. And here is an even more Machiavellian theory:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.9868421052632\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.631578947368\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I rather strongly suspect the funding freeze \u2013 revoked today \u2013 was simply an experiment to see where all the money was actually going by tracking subsequent screaming and panicked donation requests on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Targeted action can be expected to follow later. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SESzGTYhlt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/SESzGTYhlt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ArmchairW\/status\/1884750484264612309\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"buyout\"\/>\u201cBeware the \u201cDeferred Resignation\u201d Offer: A Legally Dubious Proposal for Federal Employees\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/107094\/deferred-resignation-dubious-federal-employees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Just Security<\/a>]. Skipping over the detail on statutes: \u201c[A}gencies would still need a valid legal justification for prolonged administrative leave, and it is not clear that OPM\u2019s offer would be sufficient\u2026.[I]t is not advisable that workers rely on the administration\u2019s promise to honor the wishes of employees who elect to resign and then decide instead to stay\u2026. Employees considering the deferred resignation offer should be aware that resignation acceptance is not guaranteed\u2026 Federal employees should not rush into accepting this offer without consulting their union representatives or legal counsel. \u201d And now the Machiavellian part: \u201c[T]his plan has the potential to upend entire agencies and divisions if large numbers of employees take the deal. Without sufficient budget space to hire replacements, critical government functions could be severely reduced or even eliminated, leaving essential services that Americans rely on with no staff to carry them out. This lack of a transition strategy makes the proposal not only legally dubious but also highly irresponsible from a public policy standpoint\u2026. There is possibly a deeper agenda at play as well. .\u201d \u2022 Ingenious!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI Just Got Trump\u2019s \u201cBuyout\u201d Offer at My Job. Let Me Tell You How That\u2019s Going\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2025\/01\/donald-trump-news-executive-orders-buyout-freeze-elon-musk.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Salon<\/a>]. On the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/fork%20in%20the%20road.%E2%80%9D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">fork in the road<\/a>\u201d mail: \u201cThis email, much of which was copied and pasted from a similar message sent to Twitter employees after Elon Musk\u2014Trump\u2019s pick to lead his effort to overhaul the civil service, otherwise known as the Department of Government Efficiency\u2014took over that company, proclaims that the federal workforce will be undergoing significant changes. Anyone who didn\u2019t want to participate in this new vision was invited to reply \u201cResign\u201d to the flagged-as-external email address and collect six months\u2019 salary, without having to perform any additional work, while they looked for a new job. The details of this offer are confusing, conflict with later OPM \u2018FAQs\u2019 about the program, and seem to run afoul of long-standing legal caps on severance packages\u2026. This latest buyout directive is evocative of A.I. gobbledygook, beyond evidently being a copy-and-paste job from Musk\u2019s Twitter exploits. When technologists assess a new A.I. language tool, the go-to metric is generally not the accuracy of its product, or even the consistency of its answers. It is <em>engagement<\/em>. Substance is pushed aside in pursuit of simply keeping human eyeballs trained on its messages for as long as possible. Once considered a proxy for content\u2019s ability to be \u201cvaluable\u201d or \u201cworthwhile,\u201d attention itself has become the commodity we\u2019re after: looks, likes, clicks, play next episode. Unfortunately, one of the easiest ways to engage people is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2020\/12\/facebook-doomsday-machine\/617384\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">to enrage them<\/a>.\u201d \u2022 Interesting to imagine that the whole scheme is designed to extract data on how best to manipulate the Federal workforce via email\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Nominations<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"28.269858541893\">\n<p><a name=\"gabbard\"\/>Tulsi Gabbard will bring sunlight to a rotten system\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thespectator.com\/topic\/tulsi-gabbard-will-bring-sunlight-to-a-rotten-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Spectator<\/a>]. \u201cAmericans have understandably lost trust in our intelligence services. In choosing Lieutenant Colonel Gabbard, President Trump has picked a highly-qualified, reform-minded leader who can regain that trust. The fact that her nomination has engendered such blowback in the media, driven and organized by the failed leadership class of past administrations, is a sign of how much they fear her. They dread what she represents: sunlight and transparency, a bright light confronting a dark, rotten system ridden rife with liars and frauds. The intelligence services of the United States of America ought to be focused on serving our national interest. They ought to be focused on understanding the movements and intentions of the nation\u2019s foes, anticipating dangers before they emerge and giving the commander-in-chief the information needed to stop those who would harm us. That is the reason they exist. Instead, in recent years, our intelligence services \u2014 the same people who swore to uphold the Constitution and defend us against dangerous threats \u2014 have time and again turned on the American people.\u201d \u2022 John Brennan hates her, which is reason enough to confirm her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Record Shows Tulsi Gabbard Was Not an Apologist for Russia-Backed Syria\u201d [Aaron Mat\u00e9, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearinvestigations.com\/articles\/2025\/01\/29\/the_record_shows_tulsi_gabbard_was_not_an_apologist_for_russia-backed_syria_1088012.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearInvestigations<\/a>]. \u2022 Magisterial from Mat\u00e9, showing that the Syrian narratives that Gabbard violated were never official intelligence community assessments, but always concocted by administration flaks, through several administrations.<\/p>\n<p>Snowden (1):<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3982808022923\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.43553008596\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z1OmOHgvdU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/Z1OmOHgvdU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Snowden\/status\/1884935491423777093\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Snowden (2);<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3982808022923\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.43553008596\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z1OmOHgvdU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/Z1OmOHgvdU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Snowden\/status\/1884935491423777093\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Snowden (3):<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.992774566474\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.647398843931\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exactly: Snowden could have sold that archive. He could have secretly passed it to America’s enemies. He could have dumped it all on the internet.<\/p>\n<p>He did none of that: he brought it to American journalists and asked that only the parts in the public interest be reported. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iCfxdBpMT2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/iCfxdBpMT2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1885009973878419932\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>If the Republicans can stomach Hegseth, they can man up and confirm Gabbard.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>2024 Post Mortem<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"27.697201017812\">\n<p>\u201cThe Shrinking Electoral Relevance of PA\u2019s Suburbs\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpennsylvania.com\/articles\/2025\/01\/29\/the_shrinking_electoral_relevance_of_pas_suburbs_1088095.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>]. \u201cRecent data released by the Pennsylvania Department of State indicate that Pennsylvania\u2019s suburban voters didn\u2019t decide the 2024 presidential election, as has been their customary role in the past. In fact, the data reveal that suburban voters were the election\u2019s lagging indicator of a historic political realignment that has reshaped American politics for the foreseeable future. President Trump won Pennsylvania by more than 120,000 votes for two reasons. Compared to four years ago, a surge of nearly 115,000 voters came exclusively from outside of the suburbs. These voters were decidedly Trump voters. Meantime, remarkably, Philadelphia yielded Trump the largest raw vote shift of the election, with the president gaining nearly 50,000 votes in the city. In other words, rural and exurban anti-establishment voters, along with Philadelphia\u2019s working class, handed the presidency to Trump and delivered a sweep for all statewide Republicans on the ballot\u2026.. As trust in institutions continues to erode, suburban voters stand at a crossroads, grappling with the shifting political, cultural, and economic landscape.Their preference for institutional stability is being challenged by a new majority demanding transparency, accountability, and reform. If suburban voters can reconcile these forces, they may reclaim their role as decisive actors in future elections and shape policy. Or, they may be left behind just as the working class was for generations at their expense.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"resistance\"\/>Resistance<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"25.613023255814\">\n<p>Lambert here: I changed the name of this category from #TheResistance (Neera Tanden\u2019s et al.\u2019s 2016 effort) to resistance generally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUSDA inspector general escorted out of her office after defying White House\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/01\/29\/usda-inspector-general-escorted-office-trump-white-house\/78024513007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reuters<\/a>] \u2022 More like this, please. Why comply?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeclassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism Is Suddenly Viral\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/declassified-cia-guide-to-sabotaging-fascism-is-suddenly-viral\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">404 Media<\/a>]. \u201cA declassified World War II-era government guide to \u2018simple sabotage\u2019 is currently one of the most popular open source books on the internet. The book, called \u2018Simple Sabotage Field Manual,\u2019 was declassified in 2008 by the CIA and \u2018describes ways to train normal people to be purposefully annoying telephone operators, dysfunctional train conductors, befuddling middle managers, blundering factory workers, unruly movie theater patrons, and so on. In other words, teaching people to do their jobs badly.\u2019 Over the last week, the guide has surged to become the 5th-most-accessed book on Project Gutenberg, an open source repository of free and public domain ebooks.\u201d \u2022\u00a0For example, the author begins:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1_resistance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"224\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1_resistance.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1_resistance-300x134.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>And:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2_resistance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"988\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2_resistance.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2_resistance-152x300.png 152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"24.870867768595\">\n<p>\u201cDemocrats hammered by ugly unpopularity numbers\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/01\/30\/democrats-popularity-trump-poll-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Axios<\/a>]. \u201cDemocrats face an uphill climb. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS earlier this month found that 70% of U.S. adults would describe themselves as disappointed with today\u2019s politics. The same CNN poll found that 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say that the party needs major changes or to be completely reformed. Reality check: The Republican Party had worse numbers during much of the first year of Trump\u2019s first term than what Democrats are seeing now. The percentage of voters with an unfavorable view of the Republican Party hovered around 60% in 2017, with a peak of 67% in August, according to Quinnipiac.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Handy chart:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/democrats_unpopular.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"355\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/democrats_unpopular.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/democrats_unpopular-300x178.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOoze,\u201d <em>le mot juste<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.521472392638\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"9.6840490797546\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is the Dems’ plan\u2014ooze back into power as the GOP fails, again. There’s no big political reform project. Just waiting for the other side to fail. And it’ll probably work. It’s why no one who failed even bothers with the pretense of accountability.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bNZJMe81JV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/bNZJMe81JV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkAmesExiled\/status\/1884727461486748035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So little party discipline, it\u2019s not possible to call these swine \u201ctraitors\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"5.370320855615\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"13.219251336898\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">58 Democrats helped Republicans pass the Laken Riley Act, which will enable Trump’s ICE to put migrants *accused* of shoplifting in detention, without due process.<br \/>As in, with Trump’s new call to detain 30,000 migrants in Guantanamo, these Democrats may help put them there: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YgOqkhrE8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/YgOqkhrE8o<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SyMrMvfcd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/SyMrMvfcd1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prem_thakker\/status\/1884717827866660890\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>How much you wanna bet that at some point Trump proposes that hardy perennial, the Grand Bargain, and these Democrats join him in finally gutting Social Security and Medicare? Just wait:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.909375\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.425\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">“A Republican representative who is a member of the DOGE Caucus told me personally that there will be cuts to Social Security and Medicare. <\/p>\n<p>These cuts are being proposed to offset the cost of tax handouts for billionaires.” \u2013 Alex Lawson <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DFFxjNFjLN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/DFFxjNFjLN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Social Security Works (@SSWorks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SSWorks\/status\/1884712965930103032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d call these swine DINOs, but in fact they\u2019re the heart of the party, the mainstream:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"5.2547770700637\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"13.136942675159\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">25 votes so far this year in the Senate<\/p>\n<p>Most reliable votes against Trump<\/p>\n<p>Hirono: 92%<br \/>Sanders: 92%<br \/>Warren: 92%<br \/>Markey: 88%<br \/>Schatz: 88%<\/p>\n<p>Least likely to vote against Trump:<br \/>Fetterman: 16%<br \/>Gallego: 36%<br \/>Hassan: 36%<br \/>Kelly: 36%<br \/>Shaheen: 36%<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J1vkPgVkmL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/J1vkPgVkmL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jonathan ‘Boo and Vote’ Cohn (@JonathanCohn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonathanCohn\/status\/1884754823494398347\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So how come these 58 Democrats get a free pass and these two don\u2019t (and never did):<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.0042372881356\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.677966101695\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trump nominated 2 life-long Democrats to key Cabinet positions \u2014 Tulsi as DNI and RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary \u2014 and those are the two Senate Dems are most determined to destroy:<\/p>\n<p>Tulsi because she questions the US Security State and RFK because he questions Big Pharma and Fauci: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MdMMZqlRL2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/MdMMZqlRL2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1884725498460168498\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Hoo boy:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stoller_democrats-and-men.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"700\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stoller_democrats-and-men.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stoller_democrats-and-men-214x300.png 214w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Republican Funhouse<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"14.127906976744\">\n<p>\u201cWatch: 14 Hours of Never-Before-Published Videos From Project 2025\u2019s Presidential Administration Academy\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/video-project-2025-presidential-training-academy-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ProPublica<\/a>]. \u201cProPublica and Documented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/inside-project-2025-secret-training-videos-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">obtained more than 14 hours of never-before-published videos<\/a> from Project 2025\u2019s Presidential Administration Academy, which are intended to train the next conservative administration\u2019s political appointees \u2018to be ready on day one.\u2019 \u2026 But Project 2025\u2019s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy remains on track. Video trainings like these are one of the \u2018four pillars\u2019 of that plan, says Spencer Chretien, the associate director of Project 2025, in \u2018Political Appointees & The Federal Workforce.\u2019 For transparency, we are publishing the videos as we obtained them.\u201d \u2022 Makes you wonder if the writer who butchered the OMB memo was a graduate of the putative academy. Even though there are no transcripts [snarl] no doubt some clever Democratic strategist is scanning these videos now, because they expose what Trump\u2019s minions know about government \u2014 and what they don\u2019t. Somehow, I don\u2019t think 14 hours of training videos are gonna cut it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Syndemics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in earnest \u2014 I will not equivocate \u2014 I will not excuse \u2014 I will not retreat a single inch \u2014 AND I WILL BE HEARD.\u201d \u2013William Lloyd Garrison<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Covid Resources, United States (National): Transmission (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=Risk&null=Risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>); Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>, <del><a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a><\/del>; includes many counties; <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wastewater Scan<\/a>, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/businesssolutions\/covid-19-index.jsp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a>); \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/iowacovid19tracker.org\/hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Iowa COVID-19 Tracker<\/a>\u201d (in IA, but national data). \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/icemsg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts<\/a>\u201d (especially on hospitalization by city).<\/p>\n<p>Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put \u201cCOVID\u201d in the subject line. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (Local): AK (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/6d2771faa9da4a2786a509d82c8cf0f7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AR (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/633006d0782b4544bd5113a314f6268a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AZ (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/covid19\/data\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); CA (<a href=\"https:\/\/skylab.cdph.ca.gov\/calwws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.marinhhs.org\/surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marin, dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/healthalerts.stanford.edu\/covid-19\/wastewater-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stanford, wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/?v=SC2_N&l=Oakland%2C+CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oakland, wastewater<\/a>); CO (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/cdphe.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/d79cf93c3938470ca4bcc4823328946b#utility=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); CT (<a href=\"https:\/\/data.ct.gov\/stories\/s\/COVID-19-data\/wa3g-tfvc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); DE (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.delaware.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); FL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/5b9d75ba683849928dc1a49c39ab0b1c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); GA (<a href=\"https:\/\/dph.georgia.gov\/ga-nwss-wastewater-surveillance-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); HI (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); IA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmmwra.org\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater reports<\/a>); ID (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Boise; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/?plantId=1056f05c-0e46-4e3d-b007-c0453ba7dc0d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Central Idaho; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/#:SARS-CoV-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Coeur d\u2019Alene; dashboard, <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.srhd.org\/topics\/spokane-county-case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spokane County<\/a>); IL (<a href=\"https:\/\/iwss.uillinois.edu\/wastewater-treatment-plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); IN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.in.gov\/indiana-covid-19-dashboard-and-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); KS (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov\/160\/COVID-19-in-Kansas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/4456bae8a38f4b6180e008477382fff9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Lawrence); KY (<a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/envirome\/thecoimmunityproject\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Louisville); LA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldh.la.gov\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/covid-19-wastewater-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MD (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.maryland.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); ME (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dhhs\/mecdc\/infectious-disease\/epi\/airborne\/coronavirus\/data.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/stats\/wastewater-surveillance\/dashboard\/sentinel-wastewater-epidemiology-evaluation-project-sweep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/gisportal.state.mi.us\/portal\/apps\/insights\/index.html#\/view\/52bbb104ed574887918f990af9f3debe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.state.mn.us\/diseases\/coronavirus\/stats\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MO (<a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/f7f5492486114da6b5d6fdc07f81aacf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MS (<a href=\"https:\/\/msdh.ms.gov\/page\/14,0,420.html#Mississippi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>MT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/MapSeries\/index.html?appid=7c34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; NC (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.ncdhhs.gov\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard)<\/a>; ND (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NE (<a href=\"https:\/\/atlas-dhhs.ne.gov\/Atlas\/Respiratory_Illness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NH (<a href=\"https:\/\/wisdom.dhhs.nh.gov\/wisdom\/dashboard.html?topic=covid-19&subtopic=recurring-updates&indicator=covid-19-wastewater#tabnavbarid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NJ (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.nj.gov\/forms\/datadashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NM (<a href=\"https:\/\/cvprovider.nmhealth.org\/public-dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NV (<a href=\"https:\/\/nvhealthresponse.nv.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/empower.unlv.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Southern NV); NY (<a href=\"https:\/\/mbcolli.shinyapps.io\/SARS2EWSP\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OH (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.ohio.gov\/dashboards\/other-resources\/wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OK (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/51657c21386d4f1a962b1853c76ec589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>OR (<a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/oregon.health.authority.covid.19\/viz\/OregonsCOVID-19DataDashboards-TableofContents\/TableofContentsStatewide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; PA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.pa.gov\/topics\/disease\/coronavirus\/pages\/Cases.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); RI (<a href=\"https:\/\/ri-department-of-health-covid-19-data-rihealth.hub.arcgis.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SC (<a href=\"https:\/\/scdhec.gov\/index.php\/covid19\/covid-19-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SD (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.sd.gov\/COVID\/Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/health\/cedep\/ncov\/data.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TX (<a href=\"https:\/\/txdshsea.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/4ae43eefd0f641d59d35c3df82ee59cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); UT (<a href=\"https:\/\/avrpublic.dhhs.utah.gov\/uwss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/sars-cov-2-in-wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthvermont.gov\/disease-control\/covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WA (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.wa.gov\/emergencies\/covid-19\/data-dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.bfhd.wa.gov\/cases-and-roadmap-to-recovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.wisconsin.gov\/covid-19\/wastewater.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); WV (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/oehs.wvdhhr.org\/news\/oehs-coivd-19-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>); WY (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/covidwastewatermonitor.wyo.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/health-infobase.canada.ca\/covid-19\/wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Government of Canada<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthontario.ca\/en\/Data-and-Analysis\/Infectious-Disease\/COVID-19-Data-Surveillance\/Wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); QC (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/covid-19\/donnees\/eaux-usees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>les eaux us\u00e9es<\/em><\/a>); BC (<a href=\"https:\/\/bccdc.shinyapps.io\/respiratory_wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); BC, Vancouver (<a href=\"https:\/\/metrovancouver.org\/services\/liquid-waste\/testing-for-the-covid-19-virus-in-wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Hat tips to helpful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Lambert here: Everything\u2019s gone dark except for trusty New York State hospitalization (daily), Walgreen\u2019s positivity (weekly), and the Cleveland Clinic? Readers, do you have any suggestions about alternatives at state level? Thank you! How I wish we had Biobot back\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.853293413174\">\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Wastewater<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6190476190476\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> This week[1] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 13<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Last week[2] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> (until next week):<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" style=\"align: left; margin-left: 0px !important; padding: 9px 0 9px 0;\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6417910447761\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong> Variants<\/strong> [3] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 18<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> <strong>Emergency Room Visits<\/strong>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl-300x159.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Hospitalization<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.8961038961039\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> New York[5] <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.health.ny.gov\/daily-hospitalization-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York State<\/a>, data January 29:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> National [6] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/covidnetdashboard\/de\/powerbi\/dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 24:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-11.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-11.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-11-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2-288x300.png 288w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Positivity<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"2.5714285714286\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> National[7] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/healthcare-solutions\/covid-19-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a> January 27:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> January 18:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2-300x198.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Travelers Data<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.5932203389831\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Positivity[9] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Variants[10] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png 608w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2-300x161.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285681\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2-300x210.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Deaths<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.76\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronadisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed-300x174.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"143.10509456317\">\n<p><strong>LEGEND<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1) <span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> for charts new today; all others are not updated.<\/p>\n<p>2) For a full-size\/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and \u201copen image in new tab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] (CDC) Seeing more red and more orange, but nothing new at major hubs. <\/p>\n<p>[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, \u201cOmmicron,\u201d has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ED) A little uptick.<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Definitely jumped.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward trend since, well, Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.<\/p>\n<p>[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cInitial jobless claims in the US sank by 16,000 from the previous week to 207,000 in the period ending January 25th, firmly below market expectations of 220,000 to mark a sharp pullback from the near two-month high last week and match the lower range of readings from recent weeks\u2026. The result was consistent with the Federal Reserve\u2019s statement that the US labor market has steadied near solid levels, adding leeway for rates to remain at the restrictive level for a longer period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: Boeing: a way out of the crisis or just window-dressing?\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketscreener.com\/quote\/stock\/BOEING-4816\/news\/Boeing-a-way-out-of-the-crisis-or-just-window-dressing-48915976\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MarketScreener<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing is also under fire from the engineers\u2019 union, which is investigating possible job relocations to non-union regions. Despite these tensions, analyst Richard Aboulafia (AeroDynamic Advisory) remains pragmatic: \u2018The path to increased production is mapped out, and the market wants its planes.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cElon Musk Wants Boeing To Rush Trump\u2019s New Air Force One\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/jalopnik.com\/elon-musk-wants-boeing-to-rush-trumps-new-air-force-one-1851751623\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jalopnik<\/a>]. \u201cConsidering <a href=\"https:\/\/jalopnik.com\/boeing-lost-track-of-hundreds-of-bad-parts-and-put-some-1851546884\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">just how sketchy things have been at Boeing<\/a> for a while now, I personally <a href=\"https:\/\/jalopnik.com\/its-not-diversity-but-plain-old-lazy-greed-endangering-1851196530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wouldn\u2019t be to hasty<\/a> to have the company rush a product.\u201d \u2022 Indeed.<\/p>\n<p>Tech: Attentive readers may have noticed that I file AI under \u201cTech\u201d rather than \u201cThe Bezzle,\u201d despite the bubble-icious nature of Silicon Valley\u2019s quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). This extract from Philip K. Dick\u2019s unsettling <em>Ubik<\/em> explains why:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ubik_ai.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"348\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ubik_ai.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ubik_ai-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t believe AI will fail (as bezzles ultimately do). I believe AI will succeed in infiltrating every single relationship we have today, as well as every affordance (i.e., a doorknob that opens a door, or a dial that raises and lowers the temperature). The result of AI\u2019s infiltration will be an orgy of rental extraction (\u201cfive cents, please\u201d) followed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">enshittification<\/a>, according to the well-known product life-cycle first identified by Cory Doctorow.<\/p>\n<p>Tech:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.3117647058824\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"6.9352941176471\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">President Xi please save us from Adobe’s ridiculous monthly subscription charges and shitty policies! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XAaIuRu7qd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/XAaIuRu7qd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brad Sigal (@BradSigal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BradSigal\/status\/1884428192150163479\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>I use LightRoom and InDesign a lot. But I used to be able to <em>own<\/em> them, not subscribe to them!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 47 Neutral (previous close: 45 Neutral) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 45 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 30 at 12:42:01 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Photo Book<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yikes:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.4946808510638\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"9.3191489361702\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ZOOM IN: Finally, a low level panorama photo of the Pacific Palisades, from the west, almost from end-to-end <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qfP2NPaKwo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/qfP2NPaKwo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/abc7chriscristi\/status\/1884041008704581904\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPiled High: 17th-Century Dutch Banquet Scenes\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/publicdomainreview.org\/collection\/dutch-banquet-scenes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Public Domain Review<\/a>]. \u201cThe feast laid out is lavish, but the table is so overladen, there is no space to dine. This is the somewhat absurd scenario staged by the tablescapes of Dutch banquet still life paintings. Also known as pronkstilleven, or \u201csumptuous still lifes\u201d, these scenes are a distinct subgenre of still life painting that gained fleeting popularity in the mid-seventeenth century. Mountainous jumbles of sensuous luxury commodities \u2014 luscious fruits; savory meats and seafood; ostentatious servingware of gold, silver, and porcelain; and exotic imported textiles \u2014 simultaneously mound upward and tumble toward the spectator. The tabletops in these scenes do not support static display but rather facilitate an aggressive spilling forth. As if to drive the point home, the efflux of pie filling in Adriaen van Utrecht\u2019s canvas serves as a visual metonym for the overall scene in which an array of fragrant, piquant treats is about to breach the boundary of the picture plane.\u201d \u2022 For example:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pronkstilleven-5b.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"458\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pronkstilleven-5b.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pronkstilleven-5b-300x229.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>I love that Dutch has \u201cpronk\u201d and English has \u201csumptuous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not sure where this clip comes from, or why the racial subtext:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6847290640394\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.133004926108\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It fucking tried to rise up at 0:46 lmfao. May not be a good precedent for his retarded fans, but these things are gonna mog humans in a few years, so whatever.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JB (@JasonBotterill3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JasonBotterill3\/status\/1884592138496929838\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>I agree that kicking the robot is stupid. What they should do is set it on fire.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"class\"\/><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Capitalist Tyranny of Extraversion\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/philosophytoday\/the-capitalist-tyranny-of-extraversion-1013436bb387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Benjamin Cain<\/a>]. \u201d capitalistic culture is liable to be hostile to introversion because reflection is bad for business. When you stop to think, you\u2019re less likely to buy because the salesperson\u2019s pitch is typically fallacious, and no one needs most of what\u2019s sold. To sell those frivolous goods, the desire for them must itself be manufactured, and that\u2019s done by a materialistic, hedonic religion that prescribes cattle-like, infantile mentalities. If your possessions make you happy, especially in a world in which most people earn pennies a day, you\u2019re likely a mentally shallow person, which is to say you\u2019re an extravert. It just so happens that extraverted, consumer cultures also threaten the planet\u2019s ecosystems with pollution and mass extinctions of wildlife. Extraverts would shoot first and ask questions later; they \u201cseize the day,\u201d as their shallow, Americanized Stoicism encourages them to do, so they don\u2019t trouble themselves with much long-term reflection. They trust capitalism will save us by encouraging innovators to address the problems of global warming, overpopulation, demagogic exploitation of personal liberties, and so on.\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m uncomfortable with the over-use of the \u201ccattle\u201d metaphor. Nevertheless\u2026. <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was going to tell a time traveling joke but you didn\u2019t laugh\u201d Apocryphal deadpan one-liner. Steven Wright as the ultimate Dad-joker?<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact information for plants<\/strong>: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-24-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From Wukchumni:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hot_springs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hot_springs.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hot_springs-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Wukchumni writes: \u201cSaline hot springs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"donate\"\/><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Water Cooler is a standalone entity <em>not<\/em> covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert\u2019s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. If you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn\u2019t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! <em>Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I\u2019m on the right track with coverage<\/em>. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:<\/p>\n<p>Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-226891\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"606\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png 606w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!<\/p>\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-alignleft\"><a href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF & Email\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow:none; padding:0; margin:0\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.printfriendly.com\/buttons\/print-button-gray.png\" alt=\"Print Friendly, PDF & Email\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .entry-content --><\/p>\n<footer class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\tThis entry was posted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/guest-post\" rel=\"category tag\">Guest Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-30-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-01-30T14:00:58-05:00\">January 30, 2025<\/time><\/a><span class=\"by-author\"> by <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/author\/lambert-strether\" title=\"View all posts by Lambert Strether\" rel=\"author\">Lambert Strether<\/a><\/span><\/span>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info\" wp_automatic_readability=\"20.197005056398\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-avatar --><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-description\" wp_automatic_readability=\"35.467911318553\">\n<h2>About Lambert Strether<\/h2>\n<p>Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (\u201cBecause markets\u201d). I don\u2019t much care about the \u201cism\u201d that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don\u2019t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. <br \/>\n <br \/>\nTo me, the key issue \u2014 and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me \u2014 is the tens of thousands of excess \u201cdeaths from despair,\u201d as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics \u2014 even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton\u2019s wars created \u2014 bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow \u2014 currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press \u2014 a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let\u2019s call such voices \u201cthe left.\u201d Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn\u2019t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I\u2019ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-link\t-->\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-description -->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-info --><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- .entry-meta --><br \/>\n\t<!-- #post --><\/p>\n<nav class=\"nav-single\">\n<h3 class=\"assistive-text\">Post navigation<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-previous list-posts-older\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/how-climate-change-and-widespread-unaffordable-home-insurance-will-wreck-property-values.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> How Climate Change and Widespread Unaffordable Home Insurance Will Wreck Property Values<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-next list-posts-newer\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/nav>\n<p><!-- .nav-single --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #comments .comments-area --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #content --><br \/>\n<!-- #primary --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #secondary --><\/p>\n<footer id=\"colophon\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- .site-info --><br \/>\n\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- #colophon --><br \/>\n\t\t<!-- #main.wrapper --><br \/>\n<!-- #page --><br \/>\n<!-- .mobile-menu-wrap --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Blog Reader Pooling - removed 09\/16\/2015 by M. Lacourse --><br \/>\n<!-- <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"nc-hide\" src=\"http:\/\/t.blogreaderproject.com\/t.gif?c9a0f3c0f2425bc76f3b4c3baf750ea8\" alt=\"\" width=\"0\" height=\"0\"> --><\/p>\n<p><!-- wp footer --><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-30-2025.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Bird Song of the Day Brown Thrasher, Stipson Island Rd., Cape May, New Jersey, United States\/ * * * In Case You Might Miss\u2026 The<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90376,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[153,183],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90375","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-spotlight"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90375","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90375"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90375\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90376"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90375"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90375"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90375"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Brown Thrasher, Stipson Island Rd., Cape May, New Jersey, United States\/<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>In Case You Might Miss\u2026 <\/strong> <\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><a href=\"#freeze\">The Rescinded OMB \u201cfreeze\u201d memo<\/a>: after-action reports and interpretations.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#buyout\">Beware the so-called \u201cbuyout\u201d<\/a> scheme.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"#gabbard\">Tulsi Gabbard nomination <\/a> for DNI.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"helper\"\/><strong>Look for the Helpers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>If you are in the LA area:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.26953125\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"8.71875\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Free air purifiers in <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LA?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">#LA<\/a> \u2013 retweet please.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ti2lNcypAd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/ti2lNcypAd<\/a> continues to donate HEPA +Active Carbon air cleaners to the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LADreamCenter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">@LADreamCenter<\/a> as part of our online “Buy One, We Donate One” emergency relief program throughout January. Last Saturday a large supply of MA-35 units\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NEGN7WvJd5\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/NEGN7WvJd5<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ecEkXoijRb\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/ecEkXoijRb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Tony Colaneri (@TonyColaneri) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TonyColaneri\/status\/1884698335698645423\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>My email address is down by the plant; please send examples of there (\u201cHelpers\u201d in the subject line). In our increasingly desperate and fragile neoliberal society, everyday <em>normal<\/em> incidents and stories of \u201cthe communism of everyday life\u201d are what I am looking for (and not, say, the Red Cross in Hawaii, or even the UNWRA in Gaza).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Politics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many of the social reactions that strike us as psychological are in fact a rational management of symbolic capital.\u201d \u2013Pierre Bourdieu, Classification Struggles<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"trump\"\/>Trump Administration<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"80.792505653063\">\n<p>\u201cLitigation Tracker: Legal Challenges to Trump Administration Actions\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/107087\/tracker-legal-challenges-trump-administration-actions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Just Security<\/a>]. \u2022 Rather a lot. Worth a look (though it gives the creeps that the lawfare spooks are tracking the work they themselves inspire).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe lawyers are getting louder \u2013 and they\u2019re getting results\u201d [Dan Froomkin, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.headsupnews.org\/p\/the-lawyers-are-getting-louder-and\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HeadsUp News<\/a>]. The deck: \u201c9 ways advocacy groups are trying to block Trump.\u201d \u2022 Ah, the \u201cgroups.\u201d Does anybody seriously believe that the NGOs will do the work that the electeds of the Democrat Party cannot rouse themselves to do? Not to mention that whatever reaches today\u2019s Supreme Court is likely to bring about blowback.<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"freeze\"\/>\u201cDid Backlash Really Kill the Trump Funding Freeze?\u201d [Ed Kilgore, <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/did-backlash-really-kill-the-trump-funding-freeze.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York Magazine<\/a>]. \u201cWhy did Team Trump back off this particular initiative so quickly? It\u2019s easy to say the administration was responding to D.C. district judge Loren AliKhan\u2019s injunction halting the freeze. But then again, the administration (and particularly OMB director nominee <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/trump-cabinet-picks-with-project-2025-ties.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Russell Vought<\/a>) has been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/politics\/white-house\/trumps-effort-withhold-federal-funding-will-trigger-imminent-legal-act-rcna189583\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">spoiling for a court fight<\/a> over the constitutionality of the Impoundment Control Act that the proposed freeze so obviously violated. Surely something else was wrong with the freeze, aside from the incredible degree of chaos associated with its rollout, requiring multiple clarifications of which agencies and programs it affected (which may have been a feature rather than a bug to the initiative\u2019s government-hating designers). According to the New York Times, the original OMB memo, despite its unprecedented nature and sweeping scope, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/01\/29\/us\/politics\/trump-funding-freeze-rollout.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wasn\u2019t even vetted<\/a> by senior White House officials like alleged policy overlord <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/2022\/11\/who-is-behind-citizens-for-sanity-midterm-ads.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stephen Miller<\/a>\u2026. [T]he funding freeze looks like a clear misstep for an administration and a Republican Party that were walking very tall after the 47th president\u2019s first week in office, giving Democrats a rare perceived \u2018win.’\u201d Note my previously expressed strictures on sloppy drafting. But: \u201cIt\u2019s far too early, however, to imagine that the chaos machine humming along at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue will fall silent even for a moment\u2026. . Democrats and Trump-skeptical Republicans will need to stay on their toes to keep up with this administration\u2019s schemes and its willingness to shatter norms.\u201d And: \u201cBut it\u2019s true that the electorate that lifted Trump to the White House for the second time almost <a href=\"https:\/\/nymag.com\/intelligencer\/article\/trump-mandate-break-law.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">surely wasn\u2019t voting<\/a> to sharply cut, if not terminate, the host of popular federal programs that appeared to be under the gun when OMB issued its funding freeze memo.\u201d \u2022 Hence footnote 2: Social Security and Medicare were \u201cpopular Federal programs\u201d among voters of both parties, hence fenced off. Not so Medicaid.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTrump\u2019s First Big Fiasco Triggers Stephen Miller\u2019s Rage\u2014Take Note Dems\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/archive.ph\/0RLFq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The New Republic<\/a>]. \u201cWhite House adviser Stephen Miller is frantically searching for scapegoats to blame for the unfolding disaster around President Donald Trump\u2019s massive freeze on federal spending.\u201d That may be so, but the White House also cut its losses immediately. More: \u201cAll of which carries a lesson for Democrats: This is what it looks like when the opposition stirs and uses its power in a unified way to make a lot of what you might call sheer political noise. That can help set the media agenda, throw Trump and his allies on the defensive, and deliver defeats to Trump that deflate his cultish aura of invincibility.\u201d And: \u201d nternal party debates suggest that many Democrats believe that Trump\u2019s 2024 victory shows voters don\u2019t care about the dire threat he poses to democracy and constitutional governance, or that defending them against Trump must be reducible to \u2018kitchen table\u2019 appeals. But the funding freeze fiasco should illustrate that this reading is highly insufficient. An understanding of the moment shaped around the idea that voters are mostly reachable only via economic concerns\u2014however important\u2014fails to provide guidance on how to convey to voters why things like this extraordinary Trumpian power grab actually matter.\u201d \u2022 How in the name of sweet suffering Jeebus is cutting Medicaid <em>not an economic concern<\/em>?! (Also, I\u2019m so, so tired of Democrats psychologizing things, whether in foreign or domestic policy. Miller\u2019s rage, Putin\u2019s fear\u2026. It\u2019s high school stuff. Provoking an enemy\u2019s emotional reaction is the subtext of so many stories. It\u2019s hardly strategic.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Trump White House Wants A Court Challenge Over Frozen Funds\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.huffpost.com\/entry\/donald-trump-omb-funding-freeze-courts_n_679a8d92e4b02e7053bf8d23\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">HuffPo<\/a>]. \u201cThe Trump administration\u2019s federal government funding freeze instituted Monday and apparently rescinded Wednesday appears to be a part of the White House\u2019s official policy to get courts to hand President Donald Trump the power to pick and choose which congressionally authorized funding he will spend, according to a confidential document obtained by HuffPost. The confidential Office of Management and Budget document outlining \u201cregulatory misalignment\u201d calls on Trump to issue executive orders blocking the release of appropriated funds in order to provoke a court challenge over the president\u2019s power to impound such funds\u2026. [The] confusing series of events and conflicting statements and actions [over the OMB memo] may be a fiasco, but the confidential OMB document makes clear that the administration intends on fomenting this very court challenge over the president\u2019s power to not spend congressionally authorized funds.\u201d \u2022 So the lawfare strategy could end up playing the Republicans game, culminating in blowback. How unfortunate there\u2019s no other avenue for redress. And here is an even more Machiavellian theory:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.9868421052632\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.631578947368\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I rather strongly suspect the funding freeze \u2013 revoked today \u2013 was simply an experiment to see where all the money was actually going by tracking subsequent screaming and panicked donation requests on social media.<\/p>\n<p>Targeted action can be expected to follow later. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SESzGTYhlt\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/SESzGTYhlt<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Armchair Warlord (@ArmchairW) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ArmchairW\/status\/1884750484264612309\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"buyout\"\/>\u201cBeware the \u201cDeferred Resignation\u201d Offer: A Legally Dubious Proposal for Federal Employees\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.justsecurity.org\/107094\/deferred-resignation-dubious-federal-employees\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Just Security<\/a>]. Skipping over the detail on statutes: \u201c[A}gencies would still need a valid legal justification for prolonged administrative leave, and it is not clear that OPM\u2019s offer would be sufficient\u2026.[I]t is not advisable that workers rely on the administration\u2019s promise to honor the wishes of employees who elect to resign and then decide instead to stay\u2026. Employees considering the deferred resignation offer should be aware that resignation acceptance is not guaranteed\u2026 Federal employees should not rush into accepting this offer without consulting their union representatives or legal counsel. \u201d And now the Machiavellian part: \u201c[T]his plan has the potential to upend entire agencies and divisions if large numbers of employees take the deal. Without sufficient budget space to hire replacements, critical government functions could be severely reduced or even eliminated, leaving essential services that Americans rely on with no staff to carry them out. This lack of a transition strategy makes the proposal not only legally dubious but also highly irresponsible from a public policy standpoint\u2026. There is possibly a deeper agenda at play as well. .\u201d \u2022 Ingenious!<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI Just Got Trump\u2019s \u201cBuyout\u201d Offer at My Job. Let Me Tell You How That\u2019s Going\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/slate.com\/news-and-politics\/2025\/01\/donald-trump-news-executive-orders-buyout-freeze-elon-musk.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Salon<\/a>]. On the \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/fork%20in%20the%20road.%E2%80%9D\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">fork in the road<\/a>\u201d mail: \u201cThis email, much of which was copied and pasted from a similar message sent to Twitter employees after Elon Musk\u2014Trump\u2019s pick to lead his effort to overhaul the civil service, otherwise known as the Department of Government Efficiency\u2014took over that company, proclaims that the federal workforce will be undergoing significant changes. Anyone who didn\u2019t want to participate in this new vision was invited to reply \u201cResign\u201d to the flagged-as-external email address and collect six months\u2019 salary, without having to perform any additional work, while they looked for a new job. The details of this offer are confusing, conflict with later OPM \u2018FAQs\u2019 about the program, and seem to run afoul of long-standing legal caps on severance packages\u2026. This latest buyout directive is evocative of A.I. gobbledygook, beyond evidently being a copy-and-paste job from Musk\u2019s Twitter exploits. When technologists assess a new A.I. language tool, the go-to metric is generally not the accuracy of its product, or even the consistency of its answers. It is <em>engagement<\/em>. Substance is pushed aside in pursuit of simply keeping human eyeballs trained on its messages for as long as possible. Once considered a proxy for content\u2019s ability to be \u201cvaluable\u201d or \u201cworthwhile,\u201d attention itself has become the commodity we\u2019re after: looks, likes, clicks, play next episode. Unfortunately, one of the easiest ways to engage people is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theatlantic.com\/technology\/archive\/2020\/12\/facebook-doomsday-machine\/617384\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">to enrage them<\/a>.\u201d \u2022 Interesting to imagine that the whole scheme is designed to extract data on how best to manipulate the Federal workforce via email\u2026 <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Nominations<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"28.269858541893\">\n<p><a name=\"gabbard\"\/>Tulsi Gabbard will bring sunlight to a rotten system\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/thespectator.com\/topic\/tulsi-gabbard-will-bring-sunlight-to-a-rotten-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Spectator<\/a>]. \u201cAmericans have understandably lost trust in our intelligence services. In choosing Lieutenant Colonel Gabbard, President Trump has picked a highly-qualified, reform-minded leader who can regain that trust. The fact that her nomination has engendered such blowback in the media, driven and organized by the failed leadership class of past administrations, is a sign of how much they fear her. They dread what she represents: sunlight and transparency, a bright light confronting a dark, rotten system ridden rife with liars and frauds. The intelligence services of the United States of America ought to be focused on serving our national interest. They ought to be focused on understanding the movements and intentions of the nation\u2019s foes, anticipating dangers before they emerge and giving the commander-in-chief the information needed to stop those who would harm us. That is the reason they exist. Instead, in recent years, our intelligence services \u2014 the same people who swore to uphold the Constitution and defend us against dangerous threats \u2014 have time and again turned on the American people.\u201d \u2022 John Brennan hates her, which is reason enough to confirm her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Record Shows Tulsi Gabbard Was Not an Apologist for Russia-Backed Syria\u201d [Aaron Mat\u00e9, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearinvestigations.com\/articles\/2025\/01\/29\/the_record_shows_tulsi_gabbard_was_not_an_apologist_for_russia-backed_syria_1088012.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearInvestigations<\/a>]. \u2022 Magisterial from Mat\u00e9, showing that the Syrian narratives that Gabbard violated were never official intelligence community assessments, but always concocted by administration flaks, through several administrations.<\/p>\n<p>Snowden (1):<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3982808022923\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.43553008596\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z1OmOHgvdU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/Z1OmOHgvdU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Snowden\/status\/1884935491423777093\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Snowden (2);<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.3982808022923\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"11.43553008596\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Tulsi Gabbard will be required to disown all prior support for whistleblowers as a condition of confirmation today. I encourage her to do so. Tell them I harmed national security and the sweet, soft feelings of staff. In D.C., that’s what passes for the pledge of allegiance. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Z1OmOHgvdU\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/Z1OmOHgvdU<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Edward Snowden (@Snowden) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Snowden\/status\/1884935491423777093\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Snowden (3):<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.992774566474\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.647398843931\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Exactly: Snowden could have sold that archive. He could have secretly passed it to America’s enemies. He could have dumped it all on the internet.<\/p>\n<p>He did none of that: he brought it to American journalists and asked that only the parts in the public interest be reported. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iCfxdBpMT2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/iCfxdBpMT2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1885009973878419932\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>If the Republicans can stomach Hegseth, they can man up and confirm Gabbard.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>2024 Post Mortem<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"27.697201017812\">\n<p>\u201cThe Shrinking Electoral Relevance of PA\u2019s Suburbs\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.realclearpennsylvania.com\/articles\/2025\/01\/29\/the_shrinking_electoral_relevance_of_pas_suburbs_1088095.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">RealClearPolitics<\/a>]. \u201cRecent data released by the Pennsylvania Department of State indicate that Pennsylvania\u2019s suburban voters didn\u2019t decide the 2024 presidential election, as has been their customary role in the past. In fact, the data reveal that suburban voters were the election\u2019s lagging indicator of a historic political realignment that has reshaped American politics for the foreseeable future. President Trump won Pennsylvania by more than 120,000 votes for two reasons. Compared to four years ago, a surge of nearly 115,000 voters came exclusively from outside of the suburbs. These voters were decidedly Trump voters. Meantime, remarkably, Philadelphia yielded Trump the largest raw vote shift of the election, with the president gaining nearly 50,000 votes in the city. In other words, rural and exurban anti-establishment voters, along with Philadelphia\u2019s working class, handed the presidency to Trump and delivered a sweep for all statewide Republicans on the ballot\u2026.. As trust in institutions continues to erode, suburban voters stand at a crossroads, grappling with the shifting political, cultural, and economic landscape.Their preference for institutional stability is being challenged by a new majority demanding transparency, accountability, and reform. If suburban voters can reconcile these forces, they may reclaim their role as decisive actors in future elections and shape policy. Or, they may be left behind just as the working class was for generations at their expense.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"resistance\"\/>Resistance<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"25.613023255814\">\n<p>Lambert here: I changed the name of this category from #TheResistance (Neera Tanden\u2019s et al.\u2019s 2016 effort) to resistance generally.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUSDA inspector general escorted out of her office after defying White House\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/01\/29\/usda-inspector-general-escorted-office-trump-white-house\/78024513007\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Reuters<\/a>] \u2022 More like this, please. Why comply?<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDeclassified CIA Guide to Sabotaging Fascism Is Suddenly Viral\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.404media.co\/declassified-cia-guide-to-sabotaging-fascism-is-suddenly-viral\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">404 Media<\/a>]. \u201cA declassified World War II-era government guide to \u2018simple sabotage\u2019 is currently one of the most popular open source books on the internet. The book, called \u2018Simple Sabotage Field Manual,\u2019 was declassified in 2008 by the CIA and \u2018describes ways to train normal people to be purposefully annoying telephone operators, dysfunctional train conductors, befuddling middle managers, blundering factory workers, unruly movie theater patrons, and so on. In other words, teaching people to do their jobs badly.\u2019 Over the last week, the guide has surged to become the 5th-most-accessed book on Project Gutenberg, an open source repository of free and public domain ebooks.\u201d \u2022\u00a0For example, the author begins:<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1_resistance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"224\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286348\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1_resistance.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/1_resistance-300x134.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>And:<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2_resistance.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"988\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2_resistance.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/2_resistance-152x300.png 152w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><a name=\"democrats\"\/>Democrats <em>en d\u00e9shabill\u00e9<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"24.870867768595\">\n<p>\u201cDemocrats hammered by ugly unpopularity numbers\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/2025\/01\/30\/democrats-popularity-trump-poll-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Axios<\/a>]. \u201cDemocrats face an uphill climb. A CNN poll conducted by SSRS earlier this month found that 70% of U.S. adults would describe themselves as disappointed with today\u2019s politics. The same CNN poll found that 58% of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents say that the party needs major changes or to be completely reformed. Reality check: The Republican Party had worse numbers during much of the first year of Trump\u2019s first term than what Democrats are seeing now. The percentage of voters with an unfavorable view of the Republican Party hovered around 60% in 2017, with a peak of 67% in August, according to Quinnipiac.\u201d \u2022\u00a0Handy chart:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/democrats_unpopular.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"355\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286356\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/democrats_unpopular.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/democrats_unpopular-300x178.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cOoze,\u201d <em>le mot juste<\/em>:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.521472392638\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"9.6840490797546\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">This is the Dems’ plan\u2014ooze back into power as the GOP fails, again. There’s no big political reform project. Just waiting for the other side to fail. And it’ll probably work. It’s why no one who failed even bothers with the pretense of accountability.<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/bNZJMe81JV\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/bNZJMe81JV<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mark Ames (@MarkAmesExiled) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MarkAmesExiled\/status\/1884727461486748035\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So little party discipline, it\u2019s not possible to call these swine \u201ctraitors\u201d:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"5.370320855615\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"13.219251336898\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">58 Democrats helped Republicans pass the Laken Riley Act, which will enable Trump’s ICE to put migrants *accused* of shoplifting in detention, without due process.<br \/>As in, with Trump’s new call to detain 30,000 migrants in Guantanamo, these Democrats may help put them there: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/YgOqkhrE8o\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/YgOqkhrE8o<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/SyMrMvfcd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/SyMrMvfcd1<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prem_thakker\/status\/1884717827866660890\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>How much you wanna bet that at some point Trump proposes that hardy perennial, the Grand Bargain, and these Democrats join him in finally gutting Social Security and Medicare? Just wait:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.909375\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.425\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">“A Republican representative who is a member of the DOGE Caucus told me personally that there will be cuts to Social Security and Medicare. <\/p>\n<p>These cuts are being proposed to offset the cost of tax handouts for billionaires.” \u2013 Alex Lawson <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/DFFxjNFjLN\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/DFFxjNFjLN<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Social Security Works (@SSWorks) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/SSWorks\/status\/1884712965930103032\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>I\u2019d call these swine DINOs, but in fact they\u2019re the heart of the party, the mainstream:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"5.2547770700637\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"13.136942675159\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">25 votes so far this year in the Senate<\/p>\n<p>Most reliable votes against Trump<\/p>\n<p>Hirono: 92%<br \/>Sanders: 92%<br \/>Warren: 92%<br \/>Markey: 88%<br \/>Schatz: 88%<\/p>\n<p>Least likely to vote against Trump:<br \/>Fetterman: 16%<br \/>Gallego: 36%<br \/>Hassan: 36%<br \/>Kelly: 36%<br \/>Shaheen: 36%<a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/J1vkPgVkmL\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/J1vkPgVkmL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jonathan ‘Boo and Vote’ Cohn (@JonathanCohn) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JonathanCohn\/status\/1884754823494398347\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 30, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>So how come these 58 Democrats get a free pass and these two don\u2019t (and never did):<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"4.0042372881356\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.677966101695\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Trump nominated 2 life-long Democrats to key Cabinet positions \u2014 Tulsi as DNI and RFK Jr. as HHS Secretary \u2014 and those are the two Senate Dems are most determined to destroy:<\/p>\n<p>Tulsi because she questions the US Security State and RFK because he questions Big Pharma and Fauci: <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MdMMZqlRL2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/MdMMZqlRL2<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ggreenwald\/status\/1884725498460168498\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center><br \/>\n<center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Hoo boy:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stoller_democrats-and-men.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"700\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286357\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stoller_democrats-and-men.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/stoller_democrats-and-men-214x300.png 214w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Republican Funhouse<\/p>\n<blockquote wp_automatic_readability=\"14.127906976744\">\n<p>\u201cWatch: 14 Hours of Never-Before-Published Videos From Project 2025\u2019s Presidential Administration Academy\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/video-project-2025-presidential-training-academy-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ProPublica<\/a>]. \u201cProPublica and Documented <a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/inside-project-2025-secret-training-videos-trump-election\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">obtained more than 14 hours of never-before-published videos<\/a> from Project 2025\u2019s Presidential Administration Academy, which are intended to train the next conservative administration\u2019s political appointees \u2018to be ready on day one.\u2019 \u2026 But Project 2025\u2019s plan to train an army of political appointees who could battle against the so-called deep state government bureaucracy remains on track. Video trainings like these are one of the \u2018four pillars\u2019 of that plan, says Spencer Chretien, the associate director of Project 2025, in \u2018Political Appointees & The Federal Workforce.\u2019 For transparency, we are publishing the videos as we obtained them.\u201d \u2022 Makes you wonder if the writer who butchered the OMB memo was a graduate of the putative academy. Even though there are no transcripts [snarl] no doubt some clever Democratic strategist is scanning these videos now, because they expose what Trump\u2019s minions know about government \u2014 and what they don\u2019t. Somehow, I don\u2019t think 14 hours of training videos are gonna cut it.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>Syndemics<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am in earnest \u2014 I will not equivocate \u2014 I will not excuse \u2014 I will not retreat a single inch \u2014 AND I WILL BE HEARD.\u201d \u2013William Lloyd Garrison<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Covid Resources, United States (National): Transmission (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#county-view?list_select_state=all_states&list_select_county=all_counties&data-type=Risk&null=Risk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>); Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>, <del><a href=\"https:\/\/biobot.io\/data\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Biobot<\/a><\/del>; includes many counties; <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Wastewater Scan<\/a>, includes drilldown by zip); Variants (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/businesssolutions\/covid-19-index.jsp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a>); \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/iowacovid19tracker.org\/hospitals\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Iowa COVID-19 Tracker<\/a>\u201d (in IA, but national data). \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/icemsg.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Infection Control, Emergency Management, Safety, and General Thoughts<\/a>\u201d (especially on hospitalization by city).<\/p>\n<p>Lambert here: Readers, thanks for the collective effort. To update any entry, do feel free to contact me at the address given with the plants. Please put \u201cCOVID\u201d in the subject line. Thank you!<\/p>\n<p>Resources, United States (Local): AK (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/af2efc8bffbf4cdc83c2d1a134354074\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/6d2771faa9da4a2786a509d82c8cf0f7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AR (<a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/633006d0782b4544bd5113a314f6268a\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); AZ (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.azdhs.gov\/covid19\/data\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); CA (<a href=\"https:\/\/skylab.cdph.ca.gov\/calwws\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.marinhhs.org\/surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Marin, dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/healthalerts.stanford.edu\/covid-19\/wastewater-dashboard\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Stanford, wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/?v=SC2_N&l=Oakland%2C+CA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oakland, wastewater<\/a>); CO (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.colorado.gov\/data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/cdphe.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/d79cf93c3938470ca4bcc4823328946b#utility=\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); CT (<a href=\"https:\/\/data.ct.gov\/stories\/s\/COVID-19-data\/wa3g-tfvc\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); DE (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.delaware.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); FL (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/5b9d75ba683849928dc1a49c39ab0b1c\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); GA (<a href=\"https:\/\/dph.georgia.gov\/ga-nwss-wastewater-surveillance-reports\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); HI (<a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); IA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dmmwra.org\/CivicAlerts.aspx?AID=57\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater reports<\/a>); ID (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Boise; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.idahopublichealth.com\/district-2\/novel-coronavirus\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/data.wastewaterscan.org\/?plantId=1056f05c-0e46-4e3d-b007-c0453ba7dc0d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Central Idaho; <a href=\"https:\/\/publichealth.verily.com\/#:SARS-CoV-2\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Coeur d\u2019Alene; dashboard, <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.srhd.org\/topics\/spokane-county-case-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Spokane County<\/a>); IL (<a href=\"https:\/\/iwss.uillinois.edu\/wastewater-treatment-plants\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); IN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.in.gov\/indiana-covid-19-dashboard-and-map\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); KS (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.coronavirus.kdheks.gov\/160\/COVID-19-in-Kansas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/experience.arcgis.com\/experience\/4456bae8a38f4b6180e008477382fff9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Lawrence); KY (<a href=\"https:\/\/louisville.edu\/envirome\/thecoimmunityproject\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>, Louisville); LA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ldh.la.gov\/coronavirus\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/covid-19-wastewater-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MD (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.maryland.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); ME (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.maine.gov\/dhhs\/mecdc\/infectious-disease\/epi\/airborne\/coronavirus\/data.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.michigan.gov\/coronavirus\/stats\/wastewater-surveillance\/dashboard\/sentinel-wastewater-epidemiology-evaluation-project-sweep\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/gisportal.state.mi.us\/portal\/apps\/insights\/index.html#\/view\/52bbb104ed574887918f990af9f3debe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.state.mn.us\/diseases\/coronavirus\/stats\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); MO (<a href=\"https:\/\/storymaps.arcgis.com\/stories\/f7f5492486114da6b5d6fdc07f81aacf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); MS (<a href=\"https:\/\/msdh.ms.gov\/page\/14,0,420.html#Mississippi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>MT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/MapSeries\/index.html?appid=7c34f3412536439491adcc2103421d4b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; NC (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.ncdhhs.gov\/dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard)<\/a>; ND (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hhs.nd.gov\/health\/coronavirus\/cases\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NE (<a href=\"https:\/\/atlas-dhhs.ne.gov\/Atlas\/Respiratory_Illness\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NH (<a href=\"https:\/\/wisdom.dhhs.nh.gov\/wisdom\/dashboard.html?topic=covid-19&subtopic=recurring-updates&indicator=covid-19-wastewater#tabnavbarid\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); NJ (<a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.nj.gov\/forms\/datadashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NM (<a href=\"https:\/\/cvprovider.nmhealth.org\/public-dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); NV (<a href=\"https:\/\/nvhealthresponse.nv.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/empower.unlv.edu\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>, Southern NV); NY (<a href=\"https:\/\/mbcolli.shinyapps.io\/SARS2EWSP\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OH (<a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.ohio.gov\/dashboards\/other-resources\/wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); OK (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/51657c21386d4f1a962b1853c76ec589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); <del>OR (<a href=\"https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/app\/profile\/oregon.health.authority.covid.19\/viz\/OregonsCOVID-19DataDashboards-TableofContents\/TableofContentsStatewide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>)<\/del>; PA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.health.pa.gov\/topics\/disease\/coronavirus\/pages\/Cases.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); RI (<a href=\"https:\/\/ri-department-of-health-covid-19-data-rihealth.hub.arcgis.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SC (<a href=\"https:\/\/scdhec.gov\/index.php\/covid19\/covid-19-data\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); SD (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.sd.gov\/COVID\/Dashboard.aspx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TN (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.tn.gov\/health\/cedep\/ncov\/data.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); TX (<a href=\"https:\/\/txdshsea.maps.arcgis.com\/apps\/dashboards\/4ae43eefd0f641d59d35c3df82ee59cc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); UT (<a href=\"https:\/\/avrpublic.dhhs.utah.gov\/uwss\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VA (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/coronavirus\/sars-cov-2-in-wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); VT (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.healthvermont.gov\/disease-control\/covid-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WA (<a href=\"https:\/\/doh.wa.gov\/emergencies\/covid-19\/data-dashboard\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>; <a href=\"https:\/\/covid19.bfhd.wa.gov\/cases-and-roadmap-to-recovery\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dashboard<\/a>); WI (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.dhs.wisconsin.gov\/covid-19\/wastewater.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); WV (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/oehs.wvdhhr.org\/news\/oehs-coivd-19-information\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>); WY (<del><a href=\"https:\/\/covidwastewatermonitor.wyo.gov\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a><\/del>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (National): Wastewater (<a href=\"https:\/\/health-infobase.canada.ca\/covid-19\/wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Government of Canada<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Resources, Canada (Provincial): ON (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.publichealthontario.ca\/en\/Data-and-Analysis\/Infectious-Disease\/COVID-19-Data-Surveillance\/Wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); QC (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.inspq.qc.ca\/covid-19\/donnees\/eaux-usees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><em>les eaux us\u00e9es<\/em><\/a>); BC (<a href=\"https:\/\/bccdc.shinyapps.io\/respiratory_wastewater\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>); BC, Vancouver (<a href=\"https:\/\/metrovancouver.org\/services\/liquid-waste\/testing-for-the-covid-19-virus-in-wastewater\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wastewater<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>Hat tips to helpful readers: Alexis, anon (2), Art_DogCT, B24S, CanCyn, ChiGal, Chuck L, Festoonic, FM, FreeMarketApologist (4), Gumbo, hop2it, JB, JEHR, JF, JL Joe, John, JM (10), JustAnotherVolunteer, JW, KatieBird, KF, KidDoc, LL, Michael King, KF, LaRuse, mrsyk, MT, MT_Wild, otisyves, Petal (6), RK (2), RL, RM, Rod, square coats (11), tennesseewaltzer, thump, Tom B., Utah, Bob White (3). <\/p>\n<p>Stay safe out there!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Lambert here: Everything\u2019s gone dark except for trusty New York State hospitalization (daily), Walgreen\u2019s positivity (weekly), and the Cleveland Clinic? Readers, do you have any suggestions about alternatives at state level? Thank you! How I wish we had Biobot back\u2026.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"table\"\/><strong>TABLE 1: Daily Covid Charts<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody wp_automatic_readability=\"10.853293413174\">\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Wastewater<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6190476190476\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> This week[1] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 13<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Last week[2] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#wastewater-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> (until next week):<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285678\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-2-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\" style=\"align: left; margin-left: 0px !important; padding: 9px 0 9px 0;\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285430\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-ww-natl-1-300x200.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6417910447761\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong> Variants<\/strong> [3] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery#variant-proportions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 18<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> <strong>Emergency Room Visits<\/strong>[4] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#trends_select_7dayeddiagnosed_00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285677\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-natl-300x230.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285672\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ccd-ed-natl-300x159.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Hospitalization<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.8961038961039\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> New York[5] <a href=\"https:\/\/coronavirus.health.ny.gov\/daily-hospitalization-summary\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">New York State<\/a>, data January 29:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> National [6] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/covidnetdashboard\/de\/powerbi\/dashboard.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 24:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-11.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286345\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-11.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-ny-hospitalization-nyc-11-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286161\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-hospitalization-natl-2-288x300.png 288w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Positivity<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"2.5714285714286\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> National[7] <a href=\"https:\/\/www.walgreens.com\/healthcare-solutions\/covid-19-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walgreens<\/a> January 27:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Ohio[8] <a href=\"https:\/\/clevelandcliniclabs.com\/respiratory-virus-surveillance-statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Cleveland Clinic<\/a> January 18:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286163\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-walgreens-positivity-states-2-300x189.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td>\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-286162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cleveland-positivity-oh-2-300x198.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Travelers Data<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.5932203389831\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Positivity[9] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Variants[10] <a href=\"https:\/\/covid.cdc.gov\/covid-data-tracker\/#traveler-genomic-surveillance\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> December 30<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285676\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2.png 608w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-positivity-travelers-2-300x161.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 608px) 100vw, 608px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285681\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-variants-travelers-2-300x210.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr colspan=\"2\">\n<td valign=\"top\"><strong>Deaths<\/strong><\/td>\n<td\/>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\" wp_automatic_readability=\"3.76\">\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. % Positivity [11] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronavirusdisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\"> Weekly Deaths vs. ED Visits [12] <a href=\"https:\/\/health.hawaii.gov\/coronadisease2019\/what-you-should-know\/current-situation-in-the-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CDC<\/a> January 11:<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr valign=\"top\">\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285674\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-positivity-300x177.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<td valign=\"top\">\n<p><span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<span class=\"Apple-tab-span\">\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"310\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-285673\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/covid-cdc-death-ed-300x174.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<td wp_automatic_readability=\"143.10509456317\">\n<p><strong>LEGEND<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>1) <span style=\"font-size: 10pt; color: gold;\">\u2605<\/span> for charts new today; all others are not updated.<\/p>\n<p>2) For a full-size\/full-resolution image, Command-click (MacOS) or right-click (Windows) on the chart thumbnail and \u201copen image in new tab.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>NOTES<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>[1] (CDC) Seeing more red and more orange, but nothing new at major hubs. <\/p>\n<p>[2] (CDC) Last week\u2019s wastewater map.<\/p>\n<p>[3] (CDC Variants) XEC takes over. That WHO label, \u201cOmmicron,\u201d has done a great job normalizing successive waves of infection.<\/p>\n<p>[4] (ED) A little uptick.<\/p>\n<p>[5] (Hospitalization: NY) Definitely jumped.<\/p>\n<p>[6] (Hospitalization: CDC). Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[7] (Walgreens) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[8] (Cleveland) Continued upward trend since, well, Thanksgiving.<\/p>\n<p>[9] (Travelers: Positivity) Leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[10] (Travelers: Variants). Positivity is new, but variants have not yet been released.<\/p>\n<p>[11] Deaths low, positivity leveling out.<\/p>\n<p>[12] Deaths low, ED leveling out.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Stats Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Employment Situation: \u201cUnited States Initial Jobless Claims\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/tradingeconomics.com\/united-states\/jobless-claims\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Trading Economics<\/a>]. \u201cInitial jobless claims in the US sank by 16,000 from the previous week to 207,000 in the period ending January 25th, firmly below market expectations of 220,000 to mark a sharp pullback from the near two-month high last week and match the lower range of readings from recent weeks\u2026. The result was consistent with the Federal Reserve\u2019s statement that the US labor market has steadied near solid levels, adding leeway for rates to remain at the restrictive level for a longer period.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: Boeing: a way out of the crisis or just window-dressing?\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketscreener.com\/quote\/stock\/BOEING-4816\/news\/Boeing-a-way-out-of-the-crisis-or-just-window-dressing-48915976\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">MarketScreener<\/a>]. \u201cBoeing is also under fire from the engineers\u2019 union, which is investigating possible job relocations to non-union regions. Despite these tensions, analyst Richard Aboulafia (AeroDynamic Advisory) remains pragmatic: \u2018The path to increased production is mapped out, and the market wants its planes.’\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Manufacturing: \u201cElon Musk Wants Boeing To Rush Trump\u2019s New Air Force One\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/jalopnik.com\/elon-musk-wants-boeing-to-rush-trumps-new-air-force-one-1851751623\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Jalopnik<\/a>]. \u201cConsidering <a href=\"https:\/\/jalopnik.com\/boeing-lost-track-of-hundreds-of-bad-parts-and-put-some-1851546884\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">just how sketchy things have been at Boeing<\/a> for a while now, I personally <a href=\"https:\/\/jalopnik.com\/its-not-diversity-but-plain-old-lazy-greed-endangering-1851196530\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">wouldn\u2019t be to hasty<\/a> to have the company rush a product.\u201d \u2022 Indeed.<\/p>\n<p>Tech: Attentive readers may have noticed that I file AI under \u201cTech\u201d rather than \u201cThe Bezzle,\u201d despite the bubble-icious nature of Silicon Valley\u2019s quest for Artificial General Intelligence (AGI). This extract from Philip K. Dick\u2019s unsettling <em>Ubik<\/em> explains why:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ubik_ai.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"348\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286352\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ubik_ai.png 500w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/ubik_ai-300x209.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t believe AI will fail (as bezzles ultimately do). I believe AI will succeed in infiltrating every single relationship we have today, as well as every affordance (i.e., a doorknob that opens a door, or a dial that raises and lowers the temperature). The result of AI\u2019s infiltration will be an orgy of rental extraction (\u201cfive cents, please\u201d) followed by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/tiktok-platforms-cory-doctorow\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">enshittification<\/a>, according to the well-known product life-cycle first identified by Cory Doctorow.<\/p>\n<p>Tech:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"2.3117647058824\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"6.9352941176471\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">President Xi please save us from Adobe’s ridiculous monthly subscription charges and shitty policies! <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/XAaIuRu7qd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">https:\/\/t.co\/XAaIuRu7qd<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Brad Sigal (@BradSigal) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BradSigal\/status\/1884428192150163479\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>I use LightRoom and InDesign a lot. But I used to be able to <em>own<\/em> them, not subscribe to them!<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s Fear & Greed Index: 47 Neutral (previous close: 45 Neutral) [<a href=\"https:\/\/money.cnn.com\/data\/fear-and-greed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CNN<\/a>]. One week ago: 45 (Neutral). (0 is Extreme Fear; 100 is Extreme Greed). Last updated Jan 30 at 12:42:01 PM ET.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Photo Book<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Yikes:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.4946808510638\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"9.3191489361702\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">ZOOM IN: Finally, a low level panorama photo of the Pacific Palisades, from the west, almost from end-to-end <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qfP2NPaKwo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">pic.twitter.com\/qfP2NPaKwo<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Chris Cristi (@abc7chriscristi) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/abc7chriscristi\/status\/1884041008704581904\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 28, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Gallery<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPiled High: 17th-Century Dutch Banquet Scenes\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/publicdomainreview.org\/collection\/dutch-banquet-scenes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">The Public Domain Review<\/a>]. \u201cThe feast laid out is lavish, but the table is so overladen, there is no space to dine. This is the somewhat absurd scenario staged by the tablescapes of Dutch banquet still life paintings. Also known as pronkstilleven, or \u201csumptuous still lifes\u201d, these scenes are a distinct subgenre of still life painting that gained fleeting popularity in the mid-seventeenth century. Mountainous jumbles of sensuous luxury commodities \u2014 luscious fruits; savory meats and seafood; ostentatious servingware of gold, silver, and porcelain; and exotic imported textiles \u2014 simultaneously mound upward and tumble toward the spectator. The tabletops in these scenes do not support static display but rather facilitate an aggressive spilling forth. As if to drive the point home, the efflux of pie filling in Adriaen van Utrecht\u2019s canvas serves as a visual metonym for the overall scene in which an array of fragrant, piquant treats is about to breach the boundary of the picture plane.\u201d \u2022 For example:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pronkstilleven-5b.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"458\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286346\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pronkstilleven-5b.png 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/pronkstilleven-5b-300x229.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>I love that Dutch has \u201cpronk\u201d and English has \u201csumptuous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Zeitgeist Watch<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not sure where this clip comes from, or why the racial subtext:<\/p>\n<p><center wp_automatic_readability=\"3.6847290640394\"> <\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" wp_automatic_readability=\"10.133004926108\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">It fucking tried to rise up at 0:46 lmfao. May not be a good precedent for his retarded fans, but these things are gonna mog humans in a few years, so whatever.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 JB (@JasonBotterill3) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JasonBotterill3\/status\/1884592138496929838\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">January 29, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><\/center> <\/p>\n<p>I agree that kicking the robot is stupid. What they should do is set it on fire.<\/p>\n<p><a name=\"class\"\/><strong>Class Warfare<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Capitalist Tyranny of Extraversion\u201d [<a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/philosophytoday\/the-capitalist-tyranny-of-extraversion-1013436bb387\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Benjamin Cain<\/a>]. \u201d capitalistic culture is liable to be hostile to introversion because reflection is bad for business. When you stop to think, you\u2019re less likely to buy because the salesperson\u2019s pitch is typically fallacious, and no one needs most of what\u2019s sold. To sell those frivolous goods, the desire for them must itself be manufactured, and that\u2019s done by a materialistic, hedonic religion that prescribes cattle-like, infantile mentalities. If your possessions make you happy, especially in a world in which most people earn pennies a day, you\u2019re likely a mentally shallow person, which is to say you\u2019re an extravert. It just so happens that extraverted, consumer cultures also threaten the planet\u2019s ecosystems with pollution and mass extinctions of wildlife. Extraverts would shoot first and ask questions later; they \u201cseize the day,\u201d as their shallow, Americanized Stoicism encourages them to do, so they don\u2019t trouble themselves with much long-term reflection. They trust capitalism will save us by encouraging innovators to address the problems of global warming, overpopulation, demagogic exploitation of personal liberties, and so on.\u201d \u2022 I\u2019m uncomfortable with the over-use of the \u201ccattle\u201d metaphor. Nevertheless\u2026. <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"wired\"\/><strong>News of the Wired<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI was going to tell a time traveling joke but you didn\u2019t laugh\u201d Apocryphal deadpan one-liner. Steven Wright as the ultimate Dad-joker?<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><strong>Contact information for plants<\/strong>: Readers, feel free to contact me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, to (a) find out how to send me a check if you are allergic to PayPal and (b) to find out how to send me images of plants. Vegetables are fine! Fungi, lichen, and coral are deemed to be honorary plants! If you want your handle to appear as a credit, please place it at the start of your mail in parentheses: (thus). Otherwise, I will anonymize by using your initials. See the previous Water Cooler (with plant) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-24-2025.html\">here<\/a>. From Wukchumni:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hot_springs.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"800\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-286339\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hot_springs.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/hot_springs-225x300.jpg 225w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Wukchumni writes: \u201cSaline hot springs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><center>* * *<\/center> <\/p>\n<p><a name=\"donate\"\/><strong>Readers<\/strong>: Water Cooler is a standalone entity <em>not<\/em> covered by the annual NC fundraiser. Material here is Lambert\u2019s, and does not express the views of the Naked Capitalism site. If you see a link you especially like, or an item you wouldn\u2019t see anywhere else, please do not hesitate to express your appreciation in tangible form. Remember, a tip jar is for tipping! <em>Regular positive feedback both makes me feel good and lets me know I\u2019m on the right track with coverage<\/em>. When I get no donations for three or four days I get worried. More tangibly, a constant trickle of donations helps me with expenses, and I factor in that trickle when setting fundraising goals:<\/p>\n<p>Here is the screen that will appear, which I have helpfully annotated:<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-226891\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"606\" height=\"384\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution.png 606w, https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/contribution-300x190.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 606px) 100vw, 606px\"\/><\/p>\n<p>If you hate PayPal, you can email me at lambert [UNDERSCORE] strether [DOT] corrente [AT] yahoo [DOT] com, and I will give you directions on how to send a check. Thank you!<\/p>\n<div class=\"printfriendly pf-alignleft\"><a href=\"#\" rel=\"nofollow\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF & Email\"><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"border:none;-webkit-box-shadow:none; -moz-box-shadow: none; box-shadow:none; padding:0; margin:0\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.printfriendly.com\/buttons\/print-button-gray.png\" alt=\"Print Friendly, PDF & Email\"\/><\/a><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .entry-content --><\/p>\n<footer class=\"entry-meta\">\n\t\t\tThis entry was posted in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/guest-post\" rel=\"category tag\">Guest Post<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/category\/water-cooler\" rel=\"category tag\">Water Cooler<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/200pm-water-cooler-1-30-2025.html\" title=\"2:00 pm\" rel=\"bookmark\"><time class=\"entry-date updated\" datetime=\"2025-01-30T14:00:58-05:00\">January 30, 2025<\/time><\/a><span class=\"by-author\"> by <span class=\"author vcard\"><a class=\"url fn n\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/author\/lambert-strether\" title=\"View all posts by Lambert Strether\" rel=\"author\">Lambert Strether<\/a><\/span><\/span>.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"author-info\" wp_automatic_readability=\"20.197005056398\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-avatar --><\/p>\n<div class=\"author-description\" wp_automatic_readability=\"35.467911318553\">\n<h2>About Lambert Strether<\/h2>\n<p>Readers, I have had a correspondent characterize my views as realistic cynical. Let me briefly explain them. I believe in universal programs that provide concrete material benefits, especially to the working class. Medicare for All is the prime example, but tuition-free college and a Post Office Bank also fall under this heading. So do a Jobs Guarantee and a Debt Jubilee. Clearly, neither liberal Democrats nor conservative Republicans can deliver on such programs, because the two are different flavors of neoliberalism (\u201cBecause markets\u201d). I don\u2019t much care about the \u201cism\u201d that delivers the benefits, although whichever one does have to put common humanity first, as opposed to markets. Could be a second FDR saving capitalism, democratic socialism leashing and collaring it, or communism razing it. I don\u2019t much care, as long as the benefits are delivered. <br \/>\n <br \/>\nTo me, the key issue \u2014 and this is why Medicare for All is always first with me \u2014 is the tens of thousands of excess \u201cdeaths from despair,\u201d as described by the Case-Deaton study, and other recent studies. That enormous body count makes Medicare for All, at the very least, a moral and strategic imperative. And that level of suffering and organic damage makes the concerns of identity politics \u2014 even the worthy fight to help the refugees Bush, Obama, and Clinton\u2019s wars created \u2014 bright shiny objects by comparison. Hence my frustration with the news flow \u2014 currently in my view the swirling intersection of two, separate Shock Doctrine campaigns, one by the Administration, and the other by out-of-power liberals and their allies in the State and in the press \u2014 a news flow that constantly forces me to focus on matters that I regard as of secondary importance to the excess deaths. What kind of political economy is it that halts or even reverses the increases in life expectancy that civilized societies have achieved? I am also very hopeful that the continuing destruction of both party establishments will open the space for voices supporting programs similar to those I have listed; let\u2019s call such voices \u201cthe left.\u201d Volatility creates opportunity, especially if the Democrat establishment, which puts markets first and opposes all such programs, isn\u2019t allowed to get back into the saddle. Eyes on the prize! I love the tactical level, and secretly love even the horse race, since I\u2019ve been blogging about it daily for fourteen years, but everything I write has this perspective at the back of it.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- .author-link\t-->\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-description -->\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><!-- .author-info --><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- .entry-meta --><br \/>\n\t<!-- #post --><\/p>\n<nav class=\"nav-single\">\n<h3 class=\"assistive-text\">Post navigation<\/h3>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-previous list-posts-older\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nakedcapitalism.com\/2025\/01\/how-climate-change-and-widespread-unaffordable-home-insurance-will-wreck-property-values.html\" rel=\"prev\"><span class=\"meta-nav\">\u2190<\/span> How Climate Change and Widespread Unaffordable Home Insurance Will Wreck Property Values<\/a><\/span><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"nav-next list-posts-newer\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/nav>\n<p><!-- .nav-single --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #comments .comments-area --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #content --><br \/>\n<!-- #primary --><\/p>\n<p>\t<!-- #secondary --><\/p>\n<footer id=\"colophon\" role=\"contentinfo\">\n\t\t\t\t<!-- .site-info --><br \/>\n\t\t<\/footer>\n<p><!-- #colophon --><br \/>\n\t\t<!-- #main.wrapper --><br \/>\n<!-- #page --><br \/>\n<!-- .mobile-menu-wrap --><\/p>\n<p><!-- Blog Reader Pooling - removed 09\/16\/2015 by M. 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